Prolonged psychotic states in borderline personality disorder.

This paper reviews the literature concerning the phenomenology and duration of psychosis in borderline patients and presents empirical findings concerning a sample of eight borderline women with psychosis. Little work has yet been done to establish the duration of so called "transient psychotic episodes," but the clinical consensus up to now has been that such episodes last less than two weeks. The patients in the current study experienced psychotic symptoms lasting between three weeks and four months. They were characterized by hysterical features, visual disturbances, and a possible history of sexual trauma. The diagnostic and therapeutic implications of these prolonged psychotic episodes is discussed.